Shutter awning



Jan. 19, v J, MOlR SHUTTER AWNING Filed Nov. 22, 1935 INVENTOR.

l/l'ncsn J Non:

ATTORNEY.

Patented' Jan. 19, 1937 2,068,148 SHUTTER AWNING Vincent J. Moir,Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application November 22, 1935, sei-iai No.51,131

.. 5 claims.- (C1. 15e-17) This invention relates to awnings andvparticularly to awnings of the multi-vane or shutter class.

One type of awning of this class which has been proposed heretofore isconstructed to be installed on the outside of a window or rother openingto a building, or over a porch or balcony or the like, and comprises a,frame carrying a plurality'cf pivoted movable 'shutter vanes s which maybe opened to admit light or shut to exclude rain, etc., the entireawning structure being disposed outwardly of the building so as not tointerfere with the normal operation of the window or door at theopening. It is to this type of awning that the present invention moreparticularly relates..l

It is among the objects ofthe invention:

To provide generallyy an improved shutter typ awning construction;

To providev an awning of the' class referred to constructed to permit ofits use with outwardly opening easement windows, doors, etc., in animproved manner;

To provide a shutter type awning comprising a plurality of pivotedshutter vanes adapted to open or close in a predetermined sequence;

To provide an improved pivotal support for the shutter vanes of ashutter awning of the type referred to;

To provide an improved operating mechanism for opening or closing thevanes of a shutter awning of the type referred to;

-To provide in a shutter type awning structural elements adapted in .animproved manner to be used in different sizes of complete awnings;

To provide in shutter type awnings in which shutter vanes are pivotallymoved by a lever,

improved means for varying the operating lever` ratio;

To provide a shutter awning which may be cheaply constructed, and whichwill be convenient to install or to remove from its' installed position,and which will be easy to operate and dural 'but this feature isoptional.

' horizontal as plainly shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2`is a front elevational view of the shutter of Fig.` 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating jfragmentarily amodiiication lof thel shutter of Fig. 1. y 5

Referring to the drawing, I have shown generally at I the frame of awindow having an upper. sash 2-2 and a lower sash 3 vertically slidabletherein by the usual construction. 'I'he shutter awning about. lto bedescribed is installed 10 outwardly of the upper sash so that anunobstructed view may be had through the lower sash. The awningstructure is assembled upon a base element 4 which may conveniently beconstructed fromv wood in the form of a. board or strip of 15.'

such sizeas to be suitably secured upon the outer surface of thebuilding, as for example upon 'the upper transverse portion 5 of thewindow frame. The base also comprises an upper stationary shutter vane Bto the underside of which 20 are secured hangerslformed from bar metalbent into V-form with one leg secured to the underside ofthe stationaryshutter vane 6 by bolts 8'$ projected through the vane 6 and through thesaid legs, the other leg 9 being ver- 25 'ztically disposed and securedto the outer face of the strip 4. If desired also, the legs 9 of thehangers 'I may be permanently secured to vthe strip-4 by screws III-I0,shown only in Fig. 1,

'I'he upper edge of the stationary vanev is notched out as shown at II,upwardly through which notches the hangerlegs 9 may project so that theupper edge of the vane 6 may be disposed in water-proof contact orengagement with 35 the strip 4.

Also, to the underside of the stationary vane 6 are secured as by boltsI2-I2, a pairof laterally spaced rails I3-I3, the upper' ends of therails being bent at a relatively acute angle to the hori- 40 zontal sothat they may lie flat against the under- "side of the stationary vane 6and the lower portions of the rails I3 being preferably rectilinear anddisposed at a relatively obtuse angle to the s 45 By this arrangement,the mutual cooperaticn ofthe vane'6 and rails I3 is attained whereby therails may be securely attached to the Vane 6 by conforming thereto overa relatively great extent and at the same time the vane 6 may beinclined 50 at an angle to the lower portions of the rails I3 to act inthe nature of a first vane or water shed and overhang said lowerportions of the rails as shown at I4.

The lower ends of the rails I3 are connected by 55 a transverse,preferably metal, barl I5, and the bar I5 and therefore the rails I3 aresecured byy their lower ends to thebuilding face such as to the outersurface o f the window frame thereof by 5 a pair of strut elements I6,outer ends of which are secured to the bar I 5 and inner ends of whichvI'I to the building or winter arm pivot support to be described in aplanek y at right angles thereto. j

Each rail I3 in one leg of the angle when angle iron is employed, isprovided with a plurality of ,longitudinally spaced perforations-I3--I3, andbetween each pair of perforations I8 the rail Iis` perforatedto receive bolts or rivets .IS-I9, uponl which are pivoted to oscillatein a common verti-r cal plane shutter vane arms 2li- 20; formed fromsheet metal', the rivets I9,projected through perfo,-n

rations in the arms 20 and through the said perforations in the rail I3.The yinner ends of the arms 2li-20 are pivotally riveted by rivets 2I-2Itoa bar 22 in perforations having the same 'spacing as those for theYrivets I9I9 and the bar, 22 being disposed parallel to the rail I3whereby l a parallelogram movement mechanism is provided.

The outer ends of the arms 2li are bent downwardly to provide shuttervane supporting portions 23-23 to which are secured shutter vanes 24-24,the vanes being disposed'horizontally and` opposite ends of the vanesbeing secured to corresponding arm portions 23 on opposite rails |3-I3.

'I'he arms 2li are preferably constructed from sheet metal with thedepending portion 23 inthe same plane with the above mentioned pivotedportion 25, and to provide a seat for the shutter Y vanes 24the portion23 has a wing 26 bent at a right angle thereto and bolts orrivets 21-21'are projectedI through aligned perforations in *thel vanes and in thewing 26. By this constructionof4 arms, the maximum of strengththroughout for the minimumof material is provided, all tendencies forthe arm to bend being resisted by the width or depth of Athe armconsidered as a lever, which depth is maintained throughout as would notbe the case, for example, if the arm were twisted to provide la ilatseat for the shutter vanes, and at the same time the said flat base forthe shutter vanes is provided by the angularly bent wing 26 withoutdetracting from the strength of the arm. Y 'I'he bar 22, besides havingthe necessary spaced perforations for the rivets 2Iof the shutter arms,

' 60 has spaced perforations 28-23 corresponding to the perforations I8vbetween adjacent arms. There are thus provided a plurality of pairs ofperforations longitudinally of the rail I3, one of each pair being inthe rail and the other in the bar 22.

An operating lever 29,I preferably formed from sheet metal and of thegeneral form of an obtuse bell crank, has one leg 3l)A 4thereoflpivotally riveted as at 3I-3I to the rail I3 and bar 22 in one pair ofsaid perforations and with the other leg 32 generally inclined upwardly.A flexible element such as a chain 33 is connected at the outer end ofthe leg 32 of the lever, indicated generally at 34, and the other end ofthe chain extends downwardly and passes through a hole or bore 3,4extending through the building to the interior thereof at one side ofthe lower sash 3,l and terminating in a suitable handle 35 inside thebuilding. I

As will now be apparent, if an operator in the 5 buildinggrasps thelhandle 35 and pulls on the chain 33, the lever4 23r will operate theparallelogram movement mechanism above described andoperate the shuttervanes 24 either to move them generally downwardly to a completelyoverlap- 10 pingclosed position or to raise'them to the open positionillustrated or' to an even higher more open position; and -in anyoperated position, a' link of thechain 33` may be looped over a pin orlhook or other device 36 in the building to hold 15 the shutter vanes inthe adjusted position.

The lever 2.3` may be located at an upper, intermediate, or lowerportion of the shutterv con, struction by disposing the rivets 3I-3I inone oranother of the above described pairs of per- 20 forations intherail I3 and bar 22 to change as may be desired the angle at which thechain 33 pulls on the lever 341, so that no matter in what location thebore or hole 34 is disposed, a corresponding leverage relation may beestablished 25 by/ suitably positioning 4the lever 23.y To this end,instead of using permanent rivets 3I3I,` removable bolts may be used sothat the optimum leverage relation may be attained at the time ofinstalling the awning at a window. so

'In Some cases it is preferred to provide the arms 20 long enough toextend inwardly beyond' the bar 22 and to provide in their 4ends'another perforation such as'that shown at`3I-3'I. The arms 20, with thisprovision, may all be made 35 alike with the said extraset ofperforations and when assembled in a relatively small awning, the innerperforations may be used becauseI suiiif cient leverage in. theparallelogram movement mechanism will be present therein; but when 40 lthe same arms are lassembled in a larger awning, greaterleverage may bewanted and vthen the outer set of perforations 31-31 may be used inriveting the bar 22 to the arms. When a small shutter is assembled fromthe arms which can 45 thus be made in great quantities for both largeand small awnings, it is` desired to have the bar 22 relatively closetothe'rail I3 for the sake of` neatness and compactness in appearance.

As will now be apparent, the entire shutter 50 may be assembled at afactory including the base strip 4 and may be attached to the buildingor installed in position for use by mounting the strip 4 upon thebuilding and securing the strut I6; then, after it is decided where thebore 34 55 shall be'for convenience to the operator in the building, thelever 29 may be pivotally attached in operative position at an upper jorlower or intermediate /portion of the awning as may be best so Y In themodification illustrated -in Fig. 3, the

upper part of the awningA indicated generally at 33v is disposed at amore acute'angle to the horizontal' than the lower portion indicatedgenerally at 33. The lower portion 39 having rails 55 I 3a, a bar 22a,shutter arms 20a- 20a yand shutter vanes 24a-24a as well as the lever34a and operating chain 33a may all be like or similar to thecorrespondingly numbered parts of the form of Fig. 1.. In this form,however, the upper por- 70 tion of the rail rI3a as at v4|I which issecured to the underside/of the stationary vane 4I is elongated and hasa pluralityof arms 42-42 pivotally rivetedl thereto' carrying vanes43-43. These arms and vanes may be identical or sim- 75 iler to theabove described arms and vanes. The inner ends of the arms 42 arepivotally riveted to a bar 44 providing with the rail portion 40 and thearms 42 a parallelogram movement mechanism. The lower end portion of thebar 44 and the upper end portion of the bar 22a are pivotally connectedto a link 45, the connection having lost motion therein. This lostmotion may be provided by various means but I prefer to provide it bymeans of a slot 4G in the link 45 where it connects with the lower endof the bar 44, there being at this point a common rivet 41 extendingthrough the slot 46 and through the end of the lowermost arm 42 and thelower end of the bar 44. As will appear hereinafter, this slot may beprovided at the upper end of the bar 22a and in other locations, theexact location and nature of the lost motion not being essential.

Except for the alternative form of the stationary vanes 4| shown in thisfigure, the construction of the upper end portion or base of the awningby which it is attached to the building or window frame may be the sameas that described for the form of Fig. l.

In the operation of the form of Fig. 3, when the chain 33a is pulled,the shutters 24a will be moved to an open position, preferably ap-vproximately one-third of the full-open movement, and at this point ofoperation, the lost motion provided by the slot 46 will all have beentaken up by the downward movement of the bar 22a and link 45, andfurther movement on the chain 33a will cause the arms 42--42 to berocked to initiate opening of the vanes 43-4-3, and further movementwill open them to any desired degree.

Thus, in some kinds of weather, it may be desired to admit light throughthe vanes 24a and at the same time have shelter from rain by the varies43.

The rail 40 by extending outwardly in a relatively horizontal directionor at a relatively slight angle to the horizontal, provides room underthe awning as a whole for outwardly swinging doors, easement windows,etc., one of which is shown at 48, so that the awning of my inventionmay be installed at doors or windows of this type as well as at the moreusual type illustrated in Fig. 1.

When the rails 40 and i3d are made from a single piece o angle iron asillustrated in the drawing, the bend at the juncture of the two portionsmay be provided by sawing the Vertical flange of the angle iron as at49, and the bent rail may be stifened or strengthened by a brace bar 50secured at opposite ends to rail portions. Of course, as will beunderstood, if the above described sequence of operation for the shuttervaries 43 following opening movement of the vane 24a and precedingclosing movement thereof is not wanted, it is only necessary to use alink 4I without the slot 45.

It will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made in myinvention within the scope of the appended claims so that my inventionis not limited to the exact construction illustrated.

`I claim:

1. In a shutter type awning, a plurality `of groups of substantiallyhorizontal cooperating varies, the groups being disposed generally inplanes at a dihedral angle, one with the other, and outwardly convex, aframe comprising a pair of horizontally spaced members each comprisingframe elements conforming to the direction of and spaced from the planesof the vane groups, each frame element having a bar 'disposed parallelthereto and spaced therefrom, a plurality of arms pivotally connectingeach bar with the corresponding frame element and having outwardlyextending free end portions, the vanes each being supported by itsopposite end portions. on opposite pairs of arm free end portions, thebars of each member being connected together by means permittingrelative pivoting thereof. and means to move the bars with aparallelogram movement relative to the frame elements to pivotally movethe varies.

2. A shutter type awning as described in claim 1, and in which means isprovided to move a bar of one frame element, and the other bar is movedby its connection with the first named bar, and the connection is apredetermined lost motion connection whereby the vanos of one group maybe moved a predetermined amount before movement of the other groupsbegins.

3. In a shutter type awning, a plurality of vanes and vane supportingarms, a pair of side rails having parallel bars pivoted thereto by thearms, the upper ends of the rails having each an inwardly divergingportion, and a stationary vane supportedon the dlverging portion'.

4. A shutter awning as described in claim 1 and in which means isprovided to move the bar of one frame element and the other barassociated with the same frame member is moved by a pivotal connectionwith the rst named bar.

5. A vane supporting arm for a shutter type awning of the parallelogrammovement type, the

'arm being formed from sheet metal and comprising a dat elongated bodyportion provided with two perforations for pivoting it to a. frameelement and parallelogram bar associated therewith, and comprising anangle section portion one flange of which is substantially co-planarwith said flat elongated body portion and the other flange ofwhiohextends substantially at a right angle thereto and is provided witha perforation for securing it to a horizontally disposed vane.

VINCENT J. MOIR..

